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Cooper girls soccer closes season one game shy of Region I-5A tournament

It wasn’t the ending coach Robert Alvarez or any of his players wanted, but the Cooper girls soccer team had a successful 2018 campaign. The Lady Cougars' season came to an end Friday afternoon with a 2-0 loss to District 4-5A rival Lubbock Monterey in the Region I-5A quarterfinal at Shotwell Stadi

It wasn’t the ending coach Robert Alvarez or any of his players wanted, but the Cooper girls soccer team had a successful 2018 campaign.

The Lady Cougars' season came to an end Friday afternoon with a 2-0 loss to District 4-5A rival Lubbock Monterey in the Region I-5A quarterfinal at Shotwell Stadium.

The game, which was played in a stiff wind, ended Cooper’s season at 14-10-1 — one game shy of the Lady Coogs' first regional tournament berth since 2015.

“They’re a good team, but I thought that we represented ourselves well,” Alvarez said. “This is West Texas and you have to learn how to play in (the wind). The wind is never a factor.”

Cooper's strength this season had been its defense, evidenced by the 12 shutouts it brought into Friday's game. But Monterey struck early to grab the momentum.

“(Monterey) had the wind in the first half and I think that they took advantage,” Alvarez said. “They had some shots that we were able to handle and then in the second half we got unlucky with a few of those shots.”

After giving up a goal to Monterey freshman Abrysha Walker 10 minutes into the game, Cooper’s best chance at getting the equalizer came in the opening minute of the second half, when the Lady Cougars had three shots on goal with one hitting the crossbar.

“Any other day, probably two of those go in,” said Alvarez. “(Monterey) does a good job of playing right on the edge and I thought that there were a few times that maybe it was a little over the edge.”

Alvarez said he was proud of his team's effort in the second half as the Lady Coogs controlled possession for the majority of the half.

Cooper stayed within striking distance for most of the second half with a relentless attack that allowed for a few opportunities for Monterey to counter-strike when the Lady Plainsmen were able to gain possession.

Monterey had a pair of second-half goals wiped off as the Cooper backline of Savannah Gregory, Kristen Atkinson and Megan Melchor trapped Monterey forward Aisha McQueen offsides on three occasions.

The trio is typically joined on the backline by junior Monica Boyes, but she went down with an apparent knee injury with 1:07 left in the first half. Alvarez thought the physical nature of the game is what led to Boyes’ injury.

“You have got to have a short memory,” Alvarez said. “They were offsides and that backline does a great job and I trust them. They stick together, cover together and when we catch somebody offsides, it’s not by mistake. It’s because we make it happen.”

Cooper goalkeeper Brandy Hagood made 10 saves on 12 shots in the loss — including one first half sequence in which she stopped three consecutive point-blank shots after being unable to control the rebound on the first two.

On Monterey’s second goal, the Lady Plainsmen got a counter off a Cooper attack and Walker was able to chip a shot over Hagood, who had come out of the net to charge the freshman, trying to force a mistake.

“We controlled the entire second half and they got a counter and she made a great chip,” Alvarez said. “The goalkeeper had to come out and it was the best that we could do. She made a great play.”